Friday, February 16, 2018

Sleeping with the enemy, Kentucky Wildcats

I reached out to Jamie Boggs at Sea of Blue to get Big Blue Nation's perspective on tomorrow's game. He kindly provided us with the response below. If you visit A Sea of Blue, please remember to follow their site's rules and be a good representative of our University.

The Wildcats are reeling right now, coming off of the first four game losing streak of the Calipari era. In fact, they had never lost 3 in a row under Cal before last week. The strengths of this team have been sporadic throughout the season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the most consistent weapon with his ability to penetrate and finish with his left hand. Kevin Knox is the most explosive scorer, but he has also been known to disappear when things have gotten physical. The primary asset for this team that has proven to benefit the Cats in every game has been the size of this group. The length and wingspan of this group is honestly unreal, especially in the rare moments when they play zone.The primary weaknesses have been scoring and consistency. There have been many long stretches without baskets this season, something Kentucky fans are not used to. One half they will look like they've turned a corner and may be figuring out how to play together, and then the next half they look like they just met and have no team Chemistry.Collin Sexton will be a matchup nightmare for Kentucky, as guard penetration has been an issue all season. In order to compete on Saturday, Kentucky's bigs have to exert themselves and use their size on the offensive end. The Wildcats also have to make their free throws, only converting on 68.6% of their attempts from the charity stripe this season.This is the closest we have seen to a must-win game since John Calipari came to town, so I expect the Wildcats to come out ready to play.